Who was the next casualty?

I wore long pants yesterday in a charity outing because I feel it looks more professional in a work environment and less golfy.  It was in the low 80's and I did sweat but managed to get though the pain.  

They don't put spikes protruding from the boards during the Stanley Cup to make it more difficult and painful for the players, to try to promote a game of skating skill and passing talent on the middle of the ice only.  You shouldn't set up a competition venue that has the high potential to injure your talent.  

You should reward the skill of the shot making ability.  Yes, a half shot penalty from rough that you can actually play from is fine.  A rough that may only allow a couple yard advancement at the risk of injury is stupid.  It doesn't take much talent to break a wrist or strain the ligaments to hit it 10 yards.  Jose Olathbal showed you can willingly injure yourself at a US Open merely by punching your locker, if that is your goal.  Who needs untenable 8" thick rough to do that?  

Those that have to qualify to get in the US Open play on venues that have no relation to the ultimate torture chamber that the actual tournament requires.  So, what is the test to get in?  You play great golf at a course that isn't an architorture chamber of horrors, then how do you use or relate those demonstrated golf skills to qualify, to compete at the ultimate venue?

Institutionalizing the "mind set" of the "typical" US Open set-up is like placing a premium on recalcitrant traditions without regard to those who provide the show.  Is it a gladiator sport they want?

Jim,
 The perception is that the rough this year will push the envelope. (I can't wait for a credible analysis and description) Calling Dr. Howard Dr. Klein Dr. Howard

And, From the look of the conditioning at Oakmont I suspect it's lush and dense.

 If any of these injuries (and I assume there's more just not reported) are career ending to anyone of these professionals, or even worse, a highly skilled amateur...

Will this pathos have an impact on those in a position to decide set-up?

BTW, the Tiger hay you are talking about was the shot on the top of that bunker on #6 on Sat.?

If so, I can tell you that those eyebrows were very long but, not lush (dense) strands of grass.  

Isn't there a balance between the density and the length of the US Open rough that would make certain venue mats play at 3" at their maximum length, harder than some mats at 5"?

No Adam, it was the shot up the hill in the 2nd round from right of the fairway near the cliff - about 190 yards.

I agree that I don't like the idea of rough so thick it can injure people. It just seems wrong.

Adam,
The shot was at the 5th hole, where he hit a 205 yd 7-iron from 5" rough. It was lush, not sparse.

My right wrist remembers hitting a shot from very sparse, but very long, *fescue while playing at Shennecosett GC in Groton. It was so sparse that I could see my ball when I was 30' away from it. Today I would pitch it out as easily as I could and try to recover with my next shot.

Once again, I'm not defending the set-ups, only saying that there are options available to avoid injury.

*Looked something like this, although this is not SGC

Adam,

You have seen me hit left handed shots to avoid injury to both myself and the course.  Would you remove even one Yucca plant at Ballyneal if I had cut my legs or hands?  I don't believe that short of some climbs up to an elevated tee a golfer is ever forced into peril.

If JK's point is that any golfer-competitor can take an unplayable lie at any time, of course that is true.  Yes, on isolated occasions, a golfer may find a yucca at BallyNeal.  But, it is enough of a rarity that it is part of the game and part of the rules, and the drop on a line back from the pin can ussually be taken at a reasonable distance from the yucca to keep the game going.

What if every hole at Oakmont had 20% of the players missing the FW and half of them needing such an unplayable lie drop.  There is generally no where to drop near the ball that is equally unplayable or presents the potential for same possible wrist injury.  Would you have 1 in every 5 or 10 players taking such drops on every hole?  Where is the interest or test of golf and shot making in that?  So, the alternative is that probably 1 in 10 players per hole will try to hack it out and probably will either get barely out, or could pay the price in pain and injury.  

How many times do we see guys called out as a wussy when they hesitate to do something risky and are just trying to be prudent and safe?  That is always a juvenile suckers game when the dare and double dare is issued by the taunters.  How does the willingness to risk these injuries reflect on who the best golfer may be?  

Measuring the heart of a competitor is always a component of identifying a champion.  I agree.  But, how many punch drunk fighters have no champion's belt?  But they had the heart and willingness to box longer than was prudent, so they are where on you list of greats? Can you name any of them?

Venturi measured a risk, sucked it up and finished a gruelling championship day while flirting with medical disaster in the heat.  He won.  If he had collapsed and fried his brain and ended his life or at least his career, would you know his name?  Floppy McChokelstein may have a serious wrist problem now.  If he shows you his heart, wrecks his wrist and fails to win, will you build him a shrine in your back yard for his display of heart?    

Adam,

It's difficult to thin out the rough from April to Mid June in the Northeast.

Currently, it's very difficult and none of the golf courses are preparing for the U.S. Open

I would ask you and others how you would compare the rough at the U.S. Opens to the Heather and Gorse and rough at the British Opens ?

Is there a distinction ?

While British Open courses used to have wider playing corridors they seem to have narrowed them in recent years.

One thing I am sure the founders of Oakmont never believed in was that an errant driver of the ball would be given a break.  To quote a famous southern general...I would rather die a thousand deaths then take the driving game for Grant-ed at Oakmont.